title: Three different profiles: early socio-communicative capacities in typical Rett syndrome, the preserved speech variant and normal development.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This is the first study aiming to compare pre-diagnostic socio-communicative development of a female with typical Rett syndrome (RTT), a female with the preserved speech variant of RTT (PSV) and a control toddler.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analysed 1275 min of family videos at the participants' age between 9 and 24 months and used the Inventory of Potential Communicative Acts (IPCA) to delineate their repertoires of communicative forms and functions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results revealed different profiles for the three different conditions. The repertoire of communicative gestures and (pre)linguistic vocalizations was most comprehensive in the control toddler, followed by the female with PSV and the female with RTT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings contribute to the growing knowledge about early developmental abnormalities in RTT. In order to define distinctive profiles for typical and atypical RTT and evaluate their specificity, a larger body of evidence is needed.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physiology (Research Unit iDN - interdisciplinary Developmental Neuroscience; IN:spired), Center for Physiological Medicine, Medical University of Graz , Austria .
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Marschik
authors.forename: Katrin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Bartl-Pokorny
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tager-Flusberg
authors.forename: Walter E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Kaufmann
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pokorny
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grossmann
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Windpassinger
authors.forename: Erwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petek
authors.forename: Christa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Einspieler
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009633:Nonverbal Communication / Q000502:physiology*; D015518:Rett Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013060:Speech; D014741:Video Recording